Moving on up...

Amid all the hype. The penalty shoot-outs. And the thoughts of football finally coming home. A really important thing happened. A seminal moment. A changing of the guard.

Last week, past masters Ronaldo and Messi slipped away from the world stage just as 19-Year-old Kylian Mbappe burst onto it. With all the exuberance, creativity and inhibition of youth.

Football still may not be quite safely home yet, but it’s certainly been refreshed.

A moment of change and renewal to coincide with that at school. The last week has seen us say goodbye to a Year 11 and a Year 13. Two wonderful cohorts of young people, with with their own distinctive character and collective identities. Two lovely proms to celebrate special memories and friendships developed over five or seven years learning together.

And in that very same week, we welcomed a new Year 7 and a new Year 12, each about to start writing their own new and distinctive chapter in the life of our school.

I thought it particularly significant that our new Year 7s came in for their first day on July 4th. Independence Day. As equally a seminal moment as one with which I started in so many talented young lives....